(Central Asian countries defined as Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, Tajikistan, Turkey, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan)
Determining the countries most similar to Central Asia requires considering various social, cultural, economic, and political factors. One way to answer this complex question is by analyzing the data from the Country Similarity Index. The index attempts to quantify how similar countries are to each other relative to other countries, using a variety of statistics from five broad categories: demographics, culture, politics, infrastructure, and geography.
According to the data, the most average country in Central Asia is Uzbekistan. It is located at the heart of Central Asia, between Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan. Like most countries in this region, it was once part of the Soviet Union, before becoming independent. Most of its people natively speak Turkic languages. While the Latin alphabet is the official script of Uzbek, Cyrillic is also commonly used there. It is predominately Muslim, but its laws tend to be more secular than countries in the Middle East. Furthermore, governments in this region are similar, since they tend to have authoritarian leaders and a lot of censorship. Uzbekistan is also sparsely populated, has a dry climate, and is landlocked, like most Central Asian nations.
Armenia is predominately Christian and speaks an unrelated language compared to most Central Asian countries. Still, it has many aspects in common with the region. Wrestling and weightlifting are extremely popular in Armenia and Central Asia. Furthermore, their food is similar. Since both Armenia and much of Central Asia were once part of the Soviet Union, their infrastructure is alike. They both use Russian broad gauge railroad tracks. Much of their military equipment is manufactured in Russia too. Like most Central Asian countries, Armenia is landlocked and features mountainous terrain. The region is known for its dry climate. As a result, Armenia and Central Asia both have little forest cover.
The data shows that the least similar country to Central Asia is the Solomon Islands. Its geography is extremely different from Central Asia, since it is a tropical island archipelago in the Pacific Ocean that is heavily forested. The country is predominately Christian and its people have Melanesian ancestry. In addition, it is a parliamentary democracy, in stark contrast to most countries in Central Asia that have authoritarian governments. Furthermore, Solomon Islands drives on the left side of the road and uses Type I electrical outlets, unlike all the countries in Central Asia.
